


BB-8: Matchmaker

by linatrinch



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: A little angst, BB ships it, Fluff, M/M, a happy ending though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-01-11
Packaged: 2018-05-13 03:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5693401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linatrinch/pseuds/linatrinch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>BB-8 is tired of looking at Poe and Finn as they dance around what each of them really wants. If no one else is going to move things along, it might as well be the droid. If only he knew how humans worked.</p>
            </blockquote>





	BB-8: Matchmaker

**Author's Note:**

> I should be continuing a Supernatural fic, but stormpilot has eaten my life for the past week and I don't think it'll be stopping anytime soon. So, here you go.

BB-8 liked Finn a lot. As much as a droid could like someone, maybe, but not as much as his Master Poe. Still, it was probably the jacket. The fact that Finn had been with his master and had tried to save him and kept his jacket. It reminded the mech of Poe.

Then they found him again. His Master, alive and well, just happy to see that BB was also in the same shape. That's when the droid first noticed it. How the two of them embraced after what he knew was a harrowing experience for the both of them. But the way his master looked at his new friend. The way his friend looked at his master. Most people didn't look at each other like that. No, sir. This was different. But so subtle and so short that BB didn't have the proper time to process it.

And then Friend Finn was hurt.

The little astromech wanted to help when he had first found out, but there was little to help with. Friend Finn was too severely injured for him to be of any use. Even Friend Rey and Master Poe were of no use as the medics quickly took over. Not long after, Friend Rey left to find R2-D2's old master that the elder droid spoke very highly of. For a long time, BB-8 had wanted to meet this master, but the prospect of such a thing didn't seem as exciting anymore as it once did. Friend Finn was not waking up, Friend Rey was gone, Master Poe seemed shielded from his usual basic human emotions, and BB felt that there was too much stress for such a wonderful situation to occur.

On the other hand, BB-8 finally had the time to process the thought he had stored away only a mere few days ago. It especially came to the forefront of the droid's processors as his Master Poe didn't seem much inclined to leave Friend Finn's side, despite the fact that he wasn't even active or self-aware. His master was also very quiet lately, which was unlike him. All of this was unlike him. Friends had been injured before. Friends had been decommissioned before. Somehow, this situation was different for his master.

BB didn't know what to think of it as he tried in vain to cheer his master up while Friend Finn recovered. He even tried to talk to him about it, only to get dismissed or evaded.

The only thing that brought his old master back to him was Friend Finn's reawakening. The light shined again in Master Poe's eyes after days of dim shadows having replaced them. The look he had given him before, when they were first reunited on base, had somehow gotten stronger in that moment. What's more, when Friend Finn really came to and recognized them, the same gaze was returned to his master. They both looked so happy. And it didn't stop, either. For days, through the next two weeks, the same look continued to pass between them, as BB-8 only watched and quietly pondered on what such a strong human reaction meant.

Whatever it meant, his human friends didn't seem to know much about it either. At least, not as much as the droid seemed to, which was telling in and of itself. They were happier when together, especially when physical contact was initiated through some half-thought excuse. It was obvious that they both craved more, yet they didn't give it to themselves. Even sometimes, late into the night when it was just BB and his master, Poe seemed almost melancholy whether he was tinkering with something or just laying in bed. His thoughts were far away, in some distant and troubled world, that only seemed to disperse when Friend Finn was there.

The droid couldn't take it anymore. Whatever they were doing, it was stupid and illogical and even hurtful. They liked being together.

So BB decided to make sure they _get_ together.

* * *

 It would be quite the task since the droid didn't really know what two humans getting together would actually entail, not to mention that Friend Finn was still trying to learn bits and pieces of droidspeak. So, he decided to just go ahead and jump straight in.

“ _Let's go see Friend Finn,”_ he chimed to his master the next day as Poe worked on the X-Wing.

“Huh?” his master gracefully replied, half buried into the the jet's belly. “Finn? We just saw him.”

“ _This morning,”_ BB corrected.

“Yeah, like two hours ago... or something.” Because he totally wasn't keeping track or anything. Poe ducked his head out of the X-Wing, smudged oil against his cheek. “Why, little buddy? You need him for something.”

Kind of. _“I just want to go see Friend Finn.”_

Poe made a sound almost like a sigh as he disappeared from view, going back to work. “You can go see him, BB. There's nothing stopping you. This is probably going to take me another hour or so.”

The droid rolled back and forth, a little restless. _“I don't want to go by myself.”_

After a still beat, Poe ducked his head back into the droid's field of vision, tinged with worry and confusion. “Why?”

Another silence passed between them before BB let out a low hum of thought. Good question.

“You okay, BB?”

The droid rolled in place again, quicker this time, his head bobbing a little. _“Let's go see Friend Finn!”_

“All right, all right!” His master eased him back with a hand holding a sprocket wrench. “Just let me finish these repairs, okay? If you wanna go before then, I'm sure you can get someone to tag along.” With that, he disappeared back into his ship.

BB groaned but left it at that.

* * *

After careful research of the previous attempt, the droid deduced that he would have better luck when his master wasn't working. But Poe worked hard and often, so it was difficult to find time to try again. Eventually, he did. _“Let's go see Friend Finn.”_

His master groaned, squinting his eyes, rolling over. “Mmm. Wha? BB?”

The droid shined a high powered flashlight in his master's face. _“Let's go see Friend Finn.”_

Poe sputtered for a moment, blinking hard and shielding his eyes, eventually able to reach for the clock. “It- It's 0200. What are you talking about?”

“ _Friend Finn.”_

“What's wrong with Finn?”

“ _Let's go see him.”_

“Why?”

The droid paused for a moment before rolling in place on his master's bunk. _“Because I miss him! Let's go!”_

“BB!” Poe flopped down into the bed. “It's two in the morning! He's not awake. I shouldn't even be awake. What's gotten into you lately?”

There was another pause as the droid thought on what to do. He was losing the situation but he couldn't understand why. Humans came out of stasis easily, as he just proved. Sure, sleep was important, but they could sleep _together_ if it was that necessary. He didn't understand what was so wrong about this timing.

Perhaps Poe was just doing the usual stubborn game. BB-8 would have to break him of that. He took out his electric rod and gave his master a low powered zap.

Poe jumped in the bed like he'd been shot, sitting up like a bullet with a few choice curses flying from his mouth. “BB! What the hell?”

_Zap._

“Stop it!”

“ _Friend Finn.” Zap._

“Aah! BB!” His master quickly grabbed him before the droid could do anything else and finally rose out of bed in nothing but his boxers. Finally. _Finally._ All his work had paid off. Even the small bit of pain he gave to his master had paid off, though he did feel a little bad about it. But that's okay! Friend Finn would make it all better!

The droid practically vibrated as his master, still mumbling low curses, pounded a fist on Finn's door. It took a few seconds or so before the door opened, meeting a tired and confused Finn on the other side, wearing sweatpants and showing off his abdominal muscles. Yes! Yes, this would work! There was so much skin! They liked touching skin! Humans loved that sort of thing, right?

Before much more of the situation could be processed, just as Finn realized who was standing outside his door and what exactly they were wearing, BB found himself being suddenly deposited into the ex-stormtrooper's arms. “Here,” Poe grumbled with a scowl, “You deal with it.”

With a few more choice words, his master turned away to presumably go back to his own bunk as Friend Finn held the droid clumsily against him. BB watched his master leave. _“Wait! That wasn't the plan! Where are you going? You're supposed to stay! Master, come back this instant! Master!”_

“Um...” The droid stopped his incessant beeping through the corridor and looked up to his friend. “BB, what just happened?”

BB-8 sighed, his head falling as far back as it could go. This mission was harder than he first realized.

* * *

Apparently sleep was more important than the droid initially assumed, so he sat in the corner and brainstormed as Friend Finn went back to bed.

Perhaps he was being too forceful with the situation. That's what Master Poe seemed to think, at least. What's worse, it seemed the droid's forcefulness may have caused more harm than good. He had to be gentle with them. After all, they were just soft and squishy humans. Too much force would break them apart. BB-8 didn't want Friend Finn and Master Poe broken apart, especially because of him. Perhaps he had done wrong.

He would have to salvage this. He could. Humans were complicated, but not unreadable.

So, he thought hard on it. What did two humans or humanoids or any living beings do when they both liked to be touched and stared at so much? Well, they liked to spend time together... but how? What did they do when they were spending time together?

His processors whirred with the thoughts even into the morning as Friend Finn rose from his bunk. “What do you think about getting some food, little guy?”

BB made an affirmative sounding click, pretty much all his friend understood of his dialect, as they made their way to the mess hall. It would almost be thrilling, but Poe and Finn always saw each other at breakfast. It needed to be different. Exciting. BB sighed as they entered the bustling room.

No sooner than Finn had grabbed his plate that he saw Poe Dameron headed towards a table. “Poe!” His master's head shot up at the sound, the usual smile coming to his face, and BB figured it wasn't all lost yet. There was a chance.

Until Poe glared down at him. Ah. Right. Before the droid could get an apology in, Finn approached them. “Hey, man. What happened last night?”

Poe sighed and clasped their friend on the arm, leading him to a table. “About that. I'm really sorry for waking you up, buddy? I was sleep deprived and... I really don't know what's gotten into him lately. Did he bug you last night? Man, I'm sorry. I didn't think-”

“He was fine,” Friend Finn chuckled, taking a seat and thankfully putting his master's worries to ease. “Didn't bother me or anything. Which has, you know, left me a little confused. What's going on?”

“I don't know,” Poe sighed, poking at his food but hardly looking away from the man across from him. “He's just been bugging me about something lately, and, like, at the weirdest times. And he won't just let it go either. It's crazy.”

Finn, ignoring his food, twisted his mouth. “Bugging you about what? Something he wants to do?”

Poe shrugged, seeming too confused about it to answer for a second. “I think he might have a short circuit or blown fuse... Something... I don't know. He's making me worried.”

A short circuit? Him?

Finn frowned. “He has been through a lot.”

BB revved his head around looking at them both. He doesn't have a short circuit! He's the only one here that doesn't have a short circuit! The droid assessed the situation, deciding to prove it to them. What did living beings who liked to touch do at situations when a meal was involved?

Friend Finn continued as the droid ignored the rest of their conversation. “Is it something he wants to do with you?” Poe glanced up to him, curious, as the other went on. “I mean, last night when you left him at my room, BB was putting up a huge fuss about it, trying to scream down the hall at you. Whatever it is, I think he wants you involved, man.”

Poe frowned, brow furrowing as he thought on it... Then a very small blowtorch appeared in his line of sight.

As the two stared down at the droid, BB made a reassuring sound to them. This is what humans did, surely. He had seen it once or twice before. Of course, he didn't have candles and this wasn't actually considered dinner, but this was known as the most important meal of the day and blowtorches were useful! If anything, this was loads better than what the other living beings who looked at each other like that did.

But instead of gazing into each other's eyes and leaping into one another's arms, they both just stared down at him. He made another reassuring whistle, willing them to continue their dining and finally put an end to all of this nonsense. Instead, Friend Finn stared down at him in confusion. A quick whirl and twirl of his head showed that his master held no confusion but understanding. Yes! Good! Finally, someone got it! BB made a happy sounding trill, thinking his mission had just turned into a great success.

Then his master's face darkened, and he was glaring down at the droid like never before.

“ _Uh-oh.”_

“BB-8,” Poe stood with a disapproving frown, “We need to have a talk.”

“ _Uh-oh,”_ the droid chirped again, putting away the blowtorch.

“My room,” Master said, “Now.”

With his head bowed low, BB began to slowly coast in the direction of his master's quarters. Behind him, he heard Friend Finn defend him a bit. “Go easy on the poor thing, Poe. Whatever it is, he doesn't mean any harm.”

“All in the eye's of the beholder, buddy,” Poe grumbled. BB's head sunk lower.

* * *

He didn't understand his master's anger with the situation. That was the worst thing about all of this. He thought he was doing the right thing...

The door closed behind them. “BB-8.” His master's voice felt like a firm reprimand. How did he ever fall this low? The droid turned around to face him, head still hung. “What do you think you're doing?”

BB looked up to him, a little worried about the question. It took a few seconds before he finally decided on an answer. _“Spending time with Friend Finn.”_

“With a blowtorch? At two in the morning?” BB looked at the floor. “What are you _really_ doing?”

The droid rolled to and fro for a moment, unsure of how to answer. Perhaps... the truth would just suffice. _“Getting you to spend time with Friend Finn.”_

“I do spend time with him,” Poe crossed his arms over his chest. “What you're doing is a little more extreme than that.”

“ _But you want more time with him.”_ BB stopped his worried rolling around and looked up to his master. _“You want to stare at him and touch him. I don't understand why you don't, so I was trying to help.”_

His master's body temperature seemed warmer than usual if the discoloration of his face was any indicator. “I-... BB!... That's none of your business, BB.”

“ _But you're happy when he's here and sad when he's not.”_

“I'm not sad.”

“ _Sometimes you're sad.”_

Master Poe covered his face with his hands for a moment. “Look, buddy,” he sighed, groaned really, and removed his hands to stare at the ceiling. “You have got to stop, okay? Stop playing... _matchmaker_ or whatever it is you're doing.”

“ _But I want to help.”_

“You can't help this. Look-” Now his master ran a hand through his hair, restless. “It's not going to happen. The staring and the- the touching. It's not happening, so get it out of your head, okay?”

Not happening? What, like, ever? Never ever? That _definitely_ made no sense. That was- That was stupid! _“Why? Why won't it?”_

“Because! It's just-” Master pinched the bridge of his nose, turning a whole new shade of red. “He likes Rey, all right?”

Friend Rey? Well, of course he did. _“He likes you, too. I don't understand.”_

“He likes Rey _more_ ,” Poe stressed, almost turning angry again. “Look, I'm not going to do this with you, okay? This is ending. No more discussion. Got it?”

But... _“I... do not understand.”_

“He likes Rey! Okay? Not me!”

BB-8 was taken aback momentarily by the sudden outburst, but recovered quickly and drew closer to his master. _“He likes you, too! Why can't you be with him instead? Why aren't you trying to do something? You want it!”_

“I don't _care_ what I _want_!” BB drew back more that time. Master hadn't screamed at him like that before. “He never had the chance to choose what he could do, what he _wanted_ to do! And now he can! I'm not going to push something on him! I'm not going to make that decision for him when he already likes someone else! I don't want to hear another word out of you about this, understand?”

BB-8 didn't answer. An answer was too far away from him right now. He didn't know what to think. He didn't _understand_. They all liked each other, but there was a special connection between Finn and Poe that wasn't shared between Rey and Finn. Theirs was different. Special. He just didn't understand why Poe would give that up. BB had never seen him look at another human that way. Would he ever do it again? None of this made sense.

Master Poe stomped out of the room, the door closing behind him again.

* * *

He couldn't do this on his own anymore. He couldn't fix something he didn't understand. So, BB-8 went to the smartest person he knew. _“What's love?”_

General Organa blinked at the star maps before looking down at the little droid by her feet. For a moment, they stared at one another. “Pardon?”

“ _I don't understand what love is.”_

She blinked again, tilting her head to the side. “Why are you asking that, BB-8?”

The droid hummed a small whine. _“Master Poe won't explain.”_ He didn't understand any of it, but he was pretty sure that the humans called this whole thing love. What he didn't get was why Master Poe wouldn't snatch it up when the living beings of their galaxy treasure this love thing so much.

She watched the droid for a second, seemingly deciding on something before finally taking a seat with a sigh. “There's a lot of different kinds of love. Companionship, friendship, romantic-”

That one. That word. _“Romantic,”_ he chirped, like he was selecting a file.

Leia Organa frowned a bit, though not in an unhappy way. Instead, she looked to the side and seemed to think. “You remember Han Solo, I imagine.”

“ _Of course.”_ Who in this galaxy didn't?

“He and I were in love.”

Oh. The droid thought about that... but were they? Really? They didn't really do much of the touching thing. Maybe that spark was in their eyes, now that he thought on it, but was- was that the kind of love he was trying to research. _“Does love hurt?”_ No one except his master seemed to think it did.

But the general smiled at him and nodded. “All the time. But it also feels... euphoric. Like you could do anything. It's our greatest strength, our worst weakness. It's what everyone wants.”

Wait. This entire concept didn't make a lick of sense. _“Strength and weakness?”_ Did master simply not want to be weak?

The general's smile grew smaller, but still more than visible. “You would do anything for the person you love, BB,” she sighed, “From moving the stars to taking your life. Anything.”

… Oh. _“Sacrifice?”_

“Yes, sacrifice.”

* * *

When BB-8 rolled to Black One as the sun was setting, he found his master sitting on the wing, once again half inside of the belly of the beast, but this time absolutely covered in black grime. He had been out here awhile. Restless, no doubt, from their earlier exchange.

“ _Sorry.”_

At the sound of his whistles and chimes, Poe found his way out of the plane's hull, looking down at the little BB unit. “What?”

He sighed, clicking and whirring again. _“I'm sorry.”_

His master looked down at him in thought, before sighing and licking his lips. “No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you, BB.”

Well, that he won't argue. He does not like to be yelled at. _“I just wanted to help.”_

“I know.” Poe sighed again, hoping down from the wing without even putting the panel back in place. He walked forward, kneeling in front of the droid. “It's okay. I get it. Just don't keep doing it, okay? Finn needs time to find himself here. Romance is the last thing on his mind.”

BB straightened, tilting his head. _“But you said Friend Rey-”_

“I know, I-” Poe waved a hand, then moved it across the back of his neck, smearing the oil on him more. “If he did pick someone, I'm pretty sure it would be the jedi. They went through a lot together, you know? But... anyway...” Another sigh as master bit his lip. “Listen... He just-”

“ _He doesn't look at Friend Rey like he looks at you.”_

Poe blinked at him tiredly, mouth hanging open. “What?”

“ _He looks at you like you look at him,”_ BB chimed, _“That why I was... getting restless with waiting. I wanted you to be happy. Both of you.”_

Master Poe licked his lips again, but something shown in his eyes. Something like hope... He shook his head. “Humans-... It's more complicated than-”

“ _I wouldn't have done this if I didn't see it.”_

His master's mouth gaped open and closed like those living things that swim through the water.

“Poe. Hey.”

They both straightened and turned towards the sound of Finn's voice approaching. Instantly, Poe stood. “Finn!”

The other man shot him a smile. “Nice to see ya, but I was actually looking around for BB here. Make sure you didn't go and break his heart.”

His master chuckled, smiling widely and waving a hand at the droid. “We fixed it. We're good now.”

“Good,” Finn laughed, too, and just like that, the little shine was back in both of their eyes.

“Um...” Master Poe looked down to the mech, biting his lip and seeming to think on something. “Listen, uh... There's a little place less than a mile from here. A little food place. You, uh, wanna go grab something to eat over there? Like dinner or something?”

Finn looked at him blankly. “Not in the mess hall?”

“Well,” Poe shrugged, “over there it would be... just us...” Yes. Yes! Alone time! Something different! Something special! Yes! BB whirred his head between them, keeping track of the reactions.

Friend Finn blinked, looking a bit shocked, before a huge smile bloomed across his face. “I- Yeah. Yeah! I'd- I'd like that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

“Yeah? Yeah. Yeah! Okay! Okay.” Finn laughed at his master as the man twirled in place, looking for his tools. “Let me put the Black One back together, then we can go.”

“Uh,” Friend Finn chuckled. “Not to be weird or anything, but, uh, maybe... a shower or-”

“Shower?” Poe blinked, then what part of his skin was still his usual tan turned a bright pink. “Oh! Oh. The- The oil.” He laughed it off proudly, pulling up the bottom of his shirt to wipe his face a little bit cleaner or just hiding from embarrassment. BB couldn't tell. What he _could_ tell was the way Finn's eyes latched on to the sight of his master's abdomen.

Finally.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I love the thought of BB shipping it super hard. Thanks for reading!


End file.
